Chris Kelly ready for top-six duties, but not ready to panic

Bruins alternate captainChris Kelly has been on some Ottawa teams that have gotten off to slow starts. With all due respect to the Ottawa squad that began last season 1-4-1, there’s probably a different feeling when it’s the defending Stanley Cup champions that is struggling out of the gate.

“We need to go out and play well,” Kelly said of the 2-4-0 bruins. “I think people quickly forget that you won the Stanley Cup. They come out and they want to win. I think we’re going to get everyone’s best game, and we have so far. We just need to answer the bell a little better.”

With the changes to the lines made byClaude Julien, Kelly has gone from being the team’s third-line center to becoming a top-six forward, as he has centered Milan Lucic andTyler Seguinthe last two days in practice. Kelly has plenty of experience playing with Seguin since coming to Boston, as he played with the youngster last season and began this season on a line with the 19-year-old, but Thursday will mark the first time he’s been on a regular line with Lucic. He likes the rapport he’s developed with Lucic in his limited time working with him in practice.

“Looch plays the game the way it’s supposed to be played,” Kelly said. “He’s up and down the ice, he plays his position, he works hard on both ends. I don’t see it being much of a problem playing with him.”

Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to the Hurricanes has easily been the ugliest showing from the B’s this season, as they lost their composure and saw them play themselves right out of the game with unnecessary penalties.

“I think you always want to bounce back from losses,” Kelly said. “This is a character locker room. I was fortunate to come into this locker room. They showed that [before I was here] and we need to show that. I don’t see that being that different tonight.”

The B’s will have their work cut out for them Thursday. The Maple Leafs have yet to lose a game in regulation (4-0-1), while the B’s are merely trying to turn a corner after a disappointing start to the season. As ugly as Tuesday’s loss is, Kelly looks at the character of the Bruins’ room and the fact that the season is young and feels there’s only reason for optimism.

“I think we’ve also done some things right, but there’s a lot of things that we want to do better,” Kelly said. “‘¦ We’re six games in, and there’s 82 games for a reason. We all know we can play better.”